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The Selfish Giant

Every afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children used to go and play in the Giant's garden.
    It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Here and there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars, and there were twelve peach-trees that in the spring-time broke out into delicate blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich fruit. The birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children used to stop their games in order to listen to them. "How happy we are here!" cried the children to each other.¹
    One day the Giant came back. He had been to visit his friend the Cornish ogre, and had stayed with him for seven years. After the seven years were over he had said all he had to say, ² and he determined to return to his own castle. When he arrived he saw the children playing in the garden.
    "What are you doing there³?" he cried in a very gruff voice, and the children ran away.
    "My own garden is my own garden," said the Giant; "any one can understand that, and I will allow nobody to play in it but myself." So he built a high wall all round it, and put up a notice-board.

¹For publication, "cried the children to each other" was changed to "they cried to each other."
²For publication, "all he had to say" was changed to "all that he had to say, for his conversation was limited."
³For publication, the word "there" was changed to "here."
⁴For publication, only the center notice was printed.

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He was a very selfish Giant.
    The poor children had now nowhere to play. They tried to play on the road, but the road was very dusty and full of hard stones, and they did not like it. They used to wander round the high wall⁵ when their lessons were over, and talk about the beautiful garden inside. "How happy we were there!" they said to each other.
    Then the Spring came, and all over the country there were little blossoms and little birds. Only in the garden of the Selfish Giant it was still winter. The birds did not care to sing in it as there were no children, and the trees forgot to blossom. Once a beautiful flower put its head out from the grass, but when it saw the notice-board it was so sorry for the children that it slipped back into the ground again, and went off to sleep. The only people who were pleased were the Snow and the Frost. "Spring has forgotten this garden," they cried, "so we will live here all the year round." The Snow covered up the grass with her great white cloak, and the Frost painted all the trees silver. Then they invited the North Wind to stay with them, and he came. He was dressed⁶ in furs, and he roared all day about the garden, and blew the chimney-pots down. "This is a delightful spot," he said, "we must ask the Hail to come here."⁷ So the Hail came. Every day for three hours the Hail⁸ rattled on the roof of the castle till he broke most of the slates, and then he ran round and round the garden as

⁵For publication, "wall" was changed to "walls."
⁶For publication, "dressed" was changed to "wrapped."
⁷For publication, "to come here" was changed to "on a visit."
⁸For publication, "the Hail" was changed to "he."

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fast as he could go. He was dressed in grey, and his breath was like ice.
    "I cannot understand why the Spring is so late in coming," said the Selfish Giant, as he sat at the window and looked out at his cold, white garden; "I hope there will be a change in the weather."
    But the Spring never came, nor the Summer. The Autumn gave golden fruit to every garden, but to the Giant's garden she gave none. "He is too selfish," she said. So it was always Winter there, and the North Wind and the Hail, and the Frost, and the Snow danced about through the trees.
    One morning the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard the most⁹ lovely music. It sounded so sweet¹⁰ that he thought it must be the King's musicians passing by. It was really only a little linnet singing outside the¹¹ window, but it was so long since he had heard one¹² that it seemed to him the most beautiful singing possible.¹³ Then the Hail stopped dancing over his head, and the North Wind ceased roaring, and a delicious perfume came to him through the open casement. "I believe the Spring has come at last," said the Giant; up he jumped and looked out of the window.¹⁴
    What did he see?
    He saw a most wonderful sight. Through a little hole in the wall the children had crept in, and were sitting on¹⁵ the branches of the trees. In every tree that he

⁹For publication, "the most" was changed to "some."
¹⁰For publication, "to his ears" was added here.
¹¹For publication, "the" was changed to "his."
¹²For publication, "one" was changed to "a bird sing in his garden."
¹³For publication, the most beautiful singing possible" was changed to "to be the most beautiful music in the world."
¹⁴For publication, "the window" was changed to "bed and looked out."
¹⁵For publication, "were sitting on" was changed to "they were sitting in."

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he could see there was a little child. And the trees were so glad to have the children back again that they had covered themselves with blossoms, and were waving their arms gently above the children's heads. The birds were flying about and twittering with delight, and the flowers were looking up through the green grass and laughing. It was a lovely scene, only in one corner it was still winter. It was the farthest corner of the garden, and in it was standing a little boy. He was so small that he could not reach up to the branches of the tree, and he was crying bitterly and wandering all round it.¹⁶ The poor tree was still quite¹⁷ covered with frost and snow, and the North Wind was blowing and roaring above it. "Climb up! little boy," said the Tree, and¹⁸ bent its branches down as low as it could; but the boy was too tiny.
    The Giant's¹⁹ heart melted as he looked out. "How selfish I have been!" he said; "now I know why the Spring would not come here. I will put that poor little boy on the top of the tree, and then I will knock down the wall, and my garden shall be the children's playground for ever and ever." He was so²⁰ sorry for what he had done.
    So he crept downstairs and opened the front door very²¹ softly, and went out into the garden. But when the children saw him they were so frightened that they all ran away, and the garden became winter again.

¹⁶For publication, "he was crying bitterly and wandering all round it" was changed to "he was wandering all round it, crying bitterly."
¹⁷For publication, the word "quite" was deleted.
¹⁸For publication, the word "it" was added here.
¹⁹For publication, "The Giant's" was changed to "And the Giant's."
²⁰For publication, "so" was changed to "really very."
²¹For publication, "very" was changed to "quite."

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    Only the little boy did not run, for his eyes were so full of tears that he could²² not see the Giant coming. And the Giant came²³ up behind him and took him gently in his hand, and put him up into the tree. And the tree broke at once into blossom, and the birds came and sang on it, and the little boy stretched out his two arms and flung them round the Giant's neck, and kissed him. And the other children when they saw that the Giant was not wicked any longer, came running back, and with them came the Spring. "It is your garden now, little children," said the Giant, and he took a great axe and knocked down the wall. And when the people were going to market at twelve o'clock they saw²⁴ the Giant playing with the children in the most beautiful garden in the world.²⁵
    All day long they played, and in the evening they came to the Giant to bid him good-bye.
    "But where is your little companion?" he said: "the boy I put into the tree." The Giant loved him the best because he had kissed him.
    "We don't know," answered the children: "he has gone away."
    "You must tell him to be sure and come here²⁶ to-morrow," said the Giant. But the children said that they did not know where he lived, they²⁷ had never seen him before; and the Giant felt very sad.
    Every afternoon when school was over

²²For publication, "could" was changed to "did."
²³For publication, "came" was changed to "stole."
²⁴For publication, "saw" was changed to "found."
²⁵For publication, "in the world" was changed to "they had ever seen."
²⁶For publication, "here" was deleted.
²⁶For publication, "they" was deleted.

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the children came and played with the Giant. But the little boy whom the Giant loved was never seen again. The Giant was very kind to all the children, yet he longed for his first little friend, and often spoke of him. "How I would like to see him!" he used to say.
    Years went over, and the Giant grew very old and feeble. He could not play about any more, so he sat in a huge arm-chair, and watched the children at their games, and admired his garden. "I have many beautiful flowers," he said; "but the children are the most beautiful flowers of all."
    One winter morning he looked out of his window as he was dressing. He did not hate the Winter now, for he knew that it was merely the Spring asleep, and that the flowers were resting.
    Suddenly he rubbed his eyes in wonder and looked and looked. It certainly was a marvellous sight. In the farthest corner of the garden was a tree²⁷ covered with lovely white blossoms. Its branches were²⁸ golden, and silver fruit hung down from them, and underneath²⁹ stood the little boy he had loved.
    Downstairs ran the Giant in great delight,³⁰ and out into the garden. He hastened across the grass, and came near to the child. And when he came quite close his face grew red with anger, and he said, "Who

²⁷For publication, the word "quite" was inserted here.
²⁸For publication, the word "all" was inserted here.
²⁹For publication, the word "it" was inserted here.
³⁰For publication, "delight" was changed to "joy."

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has³¹ dared to wound thee?" For on the palms of the child's hands were the prints of two nails, and the prints of two nails were on his³² feet.
    "Who has³¹ dared to wound you? "³³ cried the Giant; "tell me, that I may take my big sword and slay him."
    "Nay!" answered the child: "but this was done many years ago, that all men might be saved." ³⁴
    "Who art thou?" said the Giant, and a strange awe fell on him, and he knelt before the little child.
    And the child smiled on the Giant, and said to him, "You let me play once in your garden, to-day you will³⁵ come with me to my garden, which is Paradise."
    And when the children ran in that afternoon, they found the Giant lying dead under the tree, all covered with white blossoms.

    Oscar Wilde

³¹For publication, "has" was changed to "hath."
³²For publication, "his" was changed to "the little."
³³For publication, "you" was changed to "thee."
³⁴For publication, "this was done many years ago, that all men might be saved" was changed to "these are the wounds of Love."
³⁵For publication, "will" was changed to "shall."